Bristol City Council invites providers to submit an Expression of Interest to provide one or more of the following services to Bristol’s Children In Care:

Lot 1Independent Visitors Service

Lot 2 Advocacy Service (includes children subject to Children Protection conference)

Lot 3 ParticipationService

There are 3 separate lots (1 per each service) and these 3 year contracts on offer and services must commence on 1st April 2014.These services may be provided together or separately, with each application requiring a separate tender submission.Funding for these services will be provided from the Corporate Parenting budget.

Expressions of interest are welcomed from all sectors – Voluntary and Community Sector, private / independent and statutory service providers.

All subsequent bids will need to clearly outline how they propose to improve outcomes for this vulnerable group, consider issues of future sustainability and how they propose to facilitate joint working with the other services and agencies that are responsible for delivering services to Bristol’s children subject to Child Protection conference, Children In Care, including those children who are currently placed outside of Bristol.

Contracts will be awarded to those Providers passing the selection criteria based on the best quality and economically advantageous submissions. First stage for approval to Tender is the completion of a Pre-Qualification questionnaire, which is accessible through registration on Bristol’s e-procurement system – the Proactis Supplier Portal: https://www.proactisplaza.com/SupplierPortal

Organisations expressing an interest must complete and submit the questionnaire, together with any other supporting documentation, via the Proactis Supplier Portal by 29th November 2013. Successfully qualifying expressions of interest will then be invited to tender.

This service is subject to Council approval.While it is anticipated that Council approval will be gained, the Council reserves the right to cancel this tender process at any time at its absolute discretion.Applicants’ effort and cost associated with submitting a PQQ/tender is at their own risk.

Bristol City Council is a public authority within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and all correspondence, documentation received will be dealt with in accordance with the Act.

Courses at Wellspring Healthy Living Centre in Barton Hill this summer include sewing, cooking, complementary therapies, Courses starting soon include Cretaive cooking, Herbal Frist Aid, Screen Printing and Meditation. There are also a range of sewing course for children, beginners and improvers. New this term and starting in June is Hatha Yoga on Thursday evenings and Friday mornings. For more information visit:

Ashley Vale Action Group (AVAG) has been awarded approx £80k in vouchers, worth £1280 per homeowner, to support getting solar-powered hot water heating systems installed in homes across Bristol. That's saving of around 50% on the total cost. The funding is particularly (but not exclusively) aimed at those living in areas with high levels of deprivation. With a deadline of the end of February for allocating the funding, interested homeowners are encouraged to get in touch asap - vouchers not used will be subsidies lost.

This highly interactive CPD course - run by Community Resolve in conjunction with the University of West of England (UWE) - considers emerging theory and practice around the creative management of community tensions and conflicts that inevitably arise in our crowded, diverse and rapidly changing cities. The course is suitable for anyone, from residents and community practitioners to policy makers and academics. It provides a space to reflect, listen and learn from each other as well as from lecturer input, and covers:

Related theory and practice, and its relevance to current policy shifts

The bigger picture: the role of the media, systemic impacts, voice and agency

Given the rapid social change and ethnic diversity of many UK cities, maintaining positive community dynamicsrequires a raft of creative, realistic approaches that sit happily with the complex and chaotic nature of people.

This course explores that emerging area of need, focussing on the points where relationships break down, andpresenting a range of new ideas, theories and approaches to use as we move into the coming years ofausterity and intensifying struggle for scarce resources.

Conflict workers take the position that in this complex world, a clash of worldviews is inevitable – and conflict is therefore integral to human existence and can in no way be avoided. The important part is not the conflict but the impact of that conflict – how it is experienced and dealt with, whether it is addressed as a positive opportunity and a catalyst for change and growth, or seen as a threat. This course looks at the reality of identifying and working with community conflicts in the UK, and in particular how to engage with the creative potential of conflict in any given situation. It will introduce you to relevant theory and practice from a range of perspectives, including learning from international peacebuilding, ideas embedded in ‘peace journalism’, the impact of social media and its potential for mobilisation, the relevance of systems and complexity theory, current social constructionist thinking, and insights from psycho-social studies.

The course is highly interactive, using participants’ own experiences and those of others to make these ideas come to life through ‘real world’ examples, and looks at how we can build these ideas into actual interventions on the ground. It is led by Hen Wilkinson, CEO of Community Resolve and Visiting Fellow at CUSP (the Centre for Understanding Social Practice) at the University of West of England, with additional theoretical input and academic support from guest lecturers and other UWE staff.